We have timber rattlers, water moccasins, pigmy rattler, and copperhead. Copperheads are common, shy, but you always need to know where you are putting your hands and feet. We also have large black rat snakes, some 7 feet long, but these are harmless and feast on copperheads.
If that is the same black snake I know, they do a better job than a cat around the barn keeping the rat/mouse population under control.
Lew
I lived upcountry in Zaire (now the Democratic Republic of Congo) in the late 80s. Had a python eat one of the neighbor's goats. They tracked it down while it was still digesting it.
There was also the odd poisonous snake, one time some friends found a spitting cobra in the outhouse. Our dog killed a little snake in the house one time...didn't think it was poisonous though.
Best part about living there was our pet african grey parrot. They're awesome. Stupid expensive in North America though.
Chris
And, actually, keeping the cat population down is one of their useful functions as well when the coyotes get lazy... :)
--
My cats always got along well with black snakes. They'd play together for hours. Neither one ever seemed to hurt the other.
Yes, and they will likely outlive you. Not uncommon to last 80 years.
I spent my time in southern Zambia. Also some time in Burkina Faso (formerly Upper Volta)
OK, you win. Arizona is viper-poor compared to that inventory -- thank goodness.
IIRC, they can only bite at the flaps of skin (between fingers, toes, etc) because they can't open their mouths wide enough to strike other parts of an adult human -- is that correct or am I thinking of a different viper?
I had heard that about the poisonous sea snakes but never about a Copperhead.
Sounds like you are describing a coral snake ... although they don't really have to chew on you, they do bite more than strike. Common in this part of the country (TX).
A copperhead is a pit viper, same family as rattlesnakes and cottonmouths, but different genus. They can put a fang into any part of you, and like all pit vipers have long retractile fangs that can go through quite a bit of clothing. Here's a copperhead yawning, but with fangs retracted
All my life, I've loved snakes and even owned over 100 at one point, but since marrying a woman with a death-fear of MICE and RATS it's hard to own anything that's really any fun any more.
We found one in the school yard in grade school. Didn't know it was dangerous so we picked it up and played with it till recess was over. Took it in the classroom and teacher had a fit. We took it back out and turned it loose :-).
We either got one that was very mild mannered or they are reluctant to bite.
They hide under stuff, tend to be shy, but even the little ones will draw up on ya if'n ya mess with 'em. Maybe they're just meaner here.
When my sister was 4, she stepped on a piece of plywood and out came a big 4-5 foot copperhead. She called out to me, "Look at the big worm." It was hard to convince her not to make sudden movements while I got the neighbor and his pistol to shoot the thing. They both stayed 2 feet apart, transfixed, all the while. Dude down the street ate it.
Greg G.
I'd like to claim credit for them but they aren't mine. It's amazing what you can find by searching flickr.com.
Well, if she's afraid of mice and rats then she should enjoy watching the snakes eat them.
Supposedly most snakebite deaths are from copperheads but also supposedly that's because they are commonplace. Looking at all the copperhead photos on flickr it's clear that they are pretty even tempered as venomous snakes go--there are only a few shots out of hundreds where they have their mouths open.
there are 36 different kinds of rattle snakes. arizona has 13 of them, more than any other state.
Or, they may be from putting too much belief in what they read on Google! :)
One of the most aggressive snakes in LA when I was growing up were the copperheads, which I routinely ran across when mowing the 2 acre house site ... often had to put back away from the damn things as they _advanced_.
Being reptile, maybe it's the difference in regional temperatures?
I should add to that though, that any snake turns paranoid when it's molting--there's a period before their new skin hardens when they are pretty much blind and they'll strike at anything that they think _might_ be a threat, so even one that knows you and is so mellow that you feel comfortable picking it up and carrying it out of the shop may suddenly turn on you if you catch it at the wrong time.
There's a lot of that going on. :)
Probably has to do with temperature, last meal, etc. All snakes get rather sluggish while digesting their last conquest or when cold. But other than eastern diamondbacks and cornered large black racers, they are the most aggressive snakes I've seen on land in the SE if disturbed, and as a kid I played with them all. A large, active copperhead fears nothing. Cottonmouths are no picnic either.
LA would be Lower Alabama, or the one in SoCal?
Greg G.
HomeOwnersHub website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.